Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

The Death of Sam Cooke, Part 1

December 11, 2014 | by Al Hunter

Fifty years ago this week, the smoothest voice soul music ever knew was silenced forever. Sam Cooke died needlessly, unexpectedly and mysteriously in a seedy motel just a couple blocks away from the swanky Hollywood Park Racetrack in Los Angeles, California. The man contemporaries called “The King of Soul” found … Read More

A Vinyl Resurgence in Irvington

December 4, 2014 | by Al Hunter

In 1897, Humorist Mark Twain told a reporter from the New York Journal, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” A century later in the 1990s, the music industry effectively declared the same fate for vinyl; both 45 rpm singles and 33 rpm LPs. It would appear that pronouncement … Read More

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson & Me, Part 2

November 27, 2014 | by Al Hunter

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was the most famous of all African-American tap dancers of the 20th century. No wait, he was, race notwithstanding, the most famous tap-dancer of all time. Robinson used his popularity to challenge and overcome numerous racial barriers, becoming one of the first minstrel and vaudeville performers to … Read More

Bill “Bojangles” & Me, Part 1

November 20, 2014 | by Al Hunter

This past fall, I drove to a place called White’s Farm in Brookville, Indiana, not far from Cincinnati. Every Wednesday you’ll find over 100 flea market and antique dealers set up in the hills and dales of an area once riddled with the remnants of Ancient Native American Indian burial … Read More

I tink dat I shall nevah see a ting as be-u-de-full as dis tree

November 13, 2014 | by Al Hunter

In May of 1932, 33-year-old Chicago gangster Al Capone was sent to Atlanta Penitentiary following his conviction for tax evasion. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea. He arrived while suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from his cocaine addiction and dealing with the drug’s aftermath: … Read More